The Navy–Air Force game is traditionally played on the first Saturday in October, the Army–Air Force game on the first Saturday in November, and the Army–Navy Game on the second Saturday in December. In the event of a tie, the award is shared, but the previous winner retains possession of the trophy. Along with the Florida Cup and the Michigan MAC Trophy, the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy is one of the few three way rivalries that awards a trophy to the winner.

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Prior to 1972, Air Force did not play an annual series with Army and Navy. The Commander-in-Chief's trophy was the brainchild of Air Force General George B. Simler, a former Air Force Academy athletic director who felt the need for such a trophy as a means to ensure the Air Force played annual games against traditional rivals Army and Navy. It was first awarded in 1972, when President Richard M. Nixon was Commander-in-Chief. The trophy itself is jointly sponsored by the alumni associations of the three academies.[1][2]

The trophy itself stands 2.5 feet (0.76 m) high and weighs 170 lb (77 kg). The design consists of three silver footballs in a pyramid like arrangement, set on a circular base, with three arc-shaped sections cut out — one for each academy. In each of the cut-out areas stands a silver figurine of the mascot of one of the academies, in front of small, engraved plates denoting which years the respective academy has won the trophy. Beneath each of the three silver footballs is the crest of one of the three academies.

When Army possesses the trophy, it is housed in a glass case in Eisenhower Hall, the academy's theater and ballroom. When Navy has possession of the trophy, it is displayed in a glass case in Bancroft Hall, the Midshipmen's dormitory. When Air Force has possession of the trophy, it is displayed in a glass case in the Cadet Fieldhouse, the indoor sports complex at the Air Force Academy.